Method for processing electrical parts, particularly for processing semiconductor chips and electrical components, and device for carrying out said method

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a novel method for processing electrical parts, particularly for processing semiconductor chips and electrical components, and a device for carrying out the inventive method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for processing electrical parts.

A method is known in the art for the multiple manufacture ofsemiconductor chips, i.e. on a semiconductor wafer, which then forfurther processing is releasably fastened to a carrier, i.e. to acarrier foil (blue foil) clamped in a carrier frame. Afterwards, thewafer is separated into the individual semiconductor chips in such amanner that these chips still adhere to the carrier foil.

The further processing of the semiconductor chips takes place accordingto the state of the art, for example in so-called die bonders, in such amanner that these chips are picked up individually from the carrier foilby a pick-up element and then placed on a “second” carrier, which forexample is formed by a lead frame or a substrate present in this leadframe. For the pick-up element, movement strokes in at least two axisdirections are necessary, namely a transport stroke in horizontaldirection between the semiconductor wafer and the second carrier and,both at the beginning and end of this transport stroke respectively, avertical stroke for grasping and picking up a semiconductor chip fromthe carrier foil or for placing the respective semiconductor chip on thesecond carrier.

The processing of one semiconductor wafer, i.e. the transfer of thesemiconductor chips present there in a plurality of rows to the secondcarrier at a high capacity (the number of transferred semiconductorchips per unit of time) is possible according to the prior art only bymeans of very fast movements of the pick-up element, particularly alsoconsidering the relatively long transport stroke, whereby for reasons ofmass acceleration alone there is a limit to the increase in capacitythat is possible by increasing the working speed.

The object of the present invention is to present a method and a devicewhich enables the processing of electrical components held releasably ona carrier foil at a significantly higher capacity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

“Electrical components” according to the invention are particularlysemiconductor chips, which are held releasably and by separation of asemiconductor wafer on a carrier foil (blue foil) fastened in a carrierframe, hereby forming an array on the carrier foil that corresponds tothe array of the chips in the wafer, namely in a plurality of rows thatare parallel to each other and extend in one axis direction.

“Components” according to the invention are furthermore electricalcomponents, particularly also such components that consist of asemiconductor chip with a housing produced by extrusion, for example aplastic housing and, for example, likewise are manufactured multiplyusing a common semiconductor wafer and are separated into the individualcomponents after being placed on the carrier foil.

“Processing” according to the invention means in the simplest sense thetransfer of the electrical components from the carrier foil to thesecond carrier in a pick-and-place operation using a pick-up element,which moves between the carrier foil and the second carrier for thispurpose.

“Second carrier” according to the invention is for example the transportsurface of a suitable transport element or also any other suitablecarrier on which the components are placed.

“Processing of the first rows” according to the invention means that theelectrical components or the groups of components are removed from theindividual rows formed on the carrier foil, preferably such that in thefollowing processing steps or strokes, the components of a new, firstrow are not transferred until the components of preceding rows havealready been transferred completely to the second carrier.

The special feature of the method according to the invention consists inthe fact that in each work stroke several components are removedsimultaneously as a group directly from the carrier foil, preferablycontrolled by an electronic control device, so that the components onthe second carrier form at least one second row, in which the componentsthen preferably follow each other at regular intervals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below in detail based on exemplaryembodiments with reference to the drawings, where:

FIG. 1 shows a simplified representation in top view of a carrier framewith a carrier foil and with a plurality of components in the form ofsemiconductor chips arranged on this carrier foil and the semiconductorchips picked up from the carrier foil by means of a pick-up unit andplaced in a plurality of rows on a transporter;

FIG. 2 shows a simplified representation in vertical section of thepick-up unit and the ram unit of a work station for carrying out themethod of FIG. 1, i.e. for picking up a group of a plurality ofsemiconductor chips from the carrier foil (blue foil) and for placingthis group onto the transport element;

FIG. 3 shows a vertical section of the work station of FIG. 2 in asectional plane extending perpendicular to FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a component drawing of the pick-up head of the pick-up unitof FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 shows a simplified representation similar to FIG. 2 of a furtherpossible embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 and 7 show representations similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 of a furtherpossible embodiment of the invention with a modified ram element ascompared with that of FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIG. 8 shows a simplified perspective functional view of a work stationsimilar to FIGS. 2 and 3, together with the transport element connectedto the work station and a further transporter or transport elementconnected to the first transport element by means of a flipping station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the drawings, 1 designates a semiconductor wafer, which is separatedinto a plurality of semiconductor chips 2 (integrated circuits orcomponents) and arranged on a carrier foil 3, which in turn is held in acarrier frame 4.

By tensioning the carrier foil 3 at its peripheral area held in thecarrier frame 4, the semiconductor chips 2 are at a distance from eachother, but form an array on the carrier foil 3 in which thesemiconductor chips 2 are arranged in several rows R1-Rn and in severalcolumns, corresponding to the original circular disk form of the wafer 1so that the rows R1-Rn and the columns extending perpendicular to theserows each have different lengths, namely in the manner that the lengthof the columns and rows increases toward the center of the wafer 1 andthe chip array.

By means of a pick-up unit not depicted in FIG. 1 but generallydesignated 5, 5 a, 5 b in the subsequent drawings, the semiconductorchips 2 are picked up from the carrier foil 3 and placed on atransporter generally designated 6 in FIG. 1, which is suitable fortransporting semiconductor chips and can have a wide variety of designsfor this purpose, for example on a transporter, which is formed by aself-adhesive belt-like foil or from a transport belt, on which thesemiconductor chips 2 are held by a vacuum, etc. The pick-up unit 5, 5 aor 5 b is part of a work station 7. By means of the transport element 6,the semiconductor chips 2 are transported away from this work station orfrom the carrier frame 4 with the carrier foil 3 and fed to a furtherapplication, as indicated by arrow A.

For the sake of simplification and better clarity, three spatial axesthat extend perpendicular to each other are indicated in the drawings,namely the X-axis, the Y-axis and the Z-axis, of which the X-axis andY-axis are horizontal axes that define the horizontal X-Y plane, whilethe Z-axis is the vertical axis.

The carrier foil 3 and thus also the wafer 1 arranged on this carrierfoil are located in the horizontal X-Y plane.

The transport plane of the transport element 6, on which thesemiconductor chips 2 are arranged, is likewise the horizontal X-Yplane. The transport direction A of the transport element 6 extendsparallel to the Y-axis in the depicted embodiment.

The semiconductor chips 2 are placed on the transport element 6 or onthe transport plane located there so that they form several—i.e. in thedepicted embodiment a total of seven—rows of semiconductor chips 2extending parallel to the transport direction A and parallel to eachother, preferably closed rows, whereby each semiconductor chip 2 in arow perpendicular to the transport direction, i.e. in the X-axis, isnext to a semiconductor chip 2 of an adjacent row, i.e. thesemiconductor chips 2 are arranged on the transport element 6 in columnsextending in the direction of the X-axis with seven semiconductor chips2 each. The special feature of the work station 7 or of the methodcarried out by this station consists, firstly, in that the semiconductorchips 2 are transferred from the wafer 1 to the transport element 6 overa short path, and secondly, in that this transfer takes place so thatseveral semiconductor chips 2 are removed from the carrier foil 3 in arow R1-Rn as a group and placed on the transport element 6 in one step,for which the pick-up element 5, 5 a, 5 b executes at least oneback-and-forth motion in the direction of the Y-axis (horizontal strokeHy) and one vertical stroke (Vz) in the Z-axis for removing the group ofsemiconductor chips 2 from the carrier foil 3 at the one end of thehorizontal stroke Hy, and one vertical stroke (V′z) in the Z-axis forplacing the group of semiconductor chips 2 on the transport element 6.The horizontal stroke Hy is thereby parallel to the transport directionA. In the depicted embodiment, six semiconductor chips 2 are picked upfrom the carrier foil 3 and then placed on the transport element 6 ineach working stroke of the pick-up element 5.

The work station 7 comprises for example a holder 8, in which thecarrier frame 4 is located and with which this carrier frame is alignedso that the rows R1-Rn do not extend in the Y-axis and the correspondingcolumns in the X-axis, and also that each row R′1-R′n formed on thetransport element 6 has a congruent axis with a row R1-Rn on the carrierfoil 3. The alignment of the carrier frame 4 and thus of the wafer 1 iseffected by means of a camera system and an electronic unit 9 comprisingan image processor. The camera system of the electronic unit 9 measuresthe configuration of the wafer 1 or the array of the semiconductor chips2 on the carrier foil 3. The camera system also measures thosesemiconductor chips or their position, which is saved in the memory ofthe electronic unit 9, determined in a preceding test of the wafer 1 tobe not usable and marked accordingly with a marking 10.

The movement of the pick-up unit 5 is controlled by means of theelectronic control unit 9 so that the groups 2′ of semiconductor chips 2placed on the transport element 6 form the respective closed rowsR′1-R′n. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1-3, the pick-up unit 5 isdesigned so that only semiconductor chips 2 of a particular row R1-Rnare picked up from the carrier foil 3 by this pick-up unit. In order toform several rows R′1-R′n on the transport element 6, which continuouslymoves by strokes in transport direction A, the pick-up unit 5 isdesigned so that in addition to the horizontal stroke Hy in transportdirection A, it can also execute a horizontal stroke Hx crosswise to thetransport direction. The marked, defective semiconductor chips 2 in thedepicted method are likewise placed on the transport element 6 and notremoved until a later process step, initiated by the electronic controlunit 9, in the memory of which the position of the marked, defectivesemiconductor chips on the transport element 6 is stored.

In order to form the rows R′1-R′n on the transport element 6 in which(rows) the semiconductor chips 2 adjoin closely despite the differentlength of the rows R′1-R′n, at least the horizontal stroke Hy has adifferent length, controlled by the electronic control unit 9, i.e. thebeginning and the end of this stroke Hy upon picking up the group 2′from the carrier foil 3 and upon placing the respective group 2′ on thetransport element 6 are controlled by the electronic control unit 9,taking into account the form of the wafer and the array of thesemiconductor chips 2 on the carrier foil 3, resulting in the continuousrows R′1-R′n. The control program of the electronic control unit 9 is,for example, designed so that upon processing of the individual rowsR1-Rn, the maximum possible number of semiconductor chips 2 is takenfrom the carrier foil 3 and placed on the transport element 6 in eachstroke, followed in a subsequent stroke by the remaining semiconductorchips of the respective rows R1-Rn.

In the depicted embodiment, the holder 8 can furthermore be moved in theX-axis for processing of the individual rows R1-Rn.

The controlled, different length of the stroke Hy takes into account onthe one hand that in the work station 7 for processing the rows R1-Rn aforward feed B is provided for the carrier frame 4 only in the X-axisand that the rows R1-Rn have differing lengths, so that during both thepick-up and placement of the semiconductor chips or the groups 2′, thepick-up element in any case must move to different positions in theY-axis.

The work station 7 or the pick-up element 5 located there and acorresponding ram element 11, which is necessary for releasing theindividual semiconductor chips 2 from the carrier foil 3 (self-adhesivefoil or blue foil), are depicted in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The pick-up element 5 consists of a pick-up head 12 in which, or in thehousing 13 of which, several vacuum holders 14 are present that can movein the direction of the Z-axis, namely with a limited strokecorresponding to the double arrow C.

The individual vacuum holders 14 have a lamellar design, i.e. theyconsist of a flat, plate-shaped body 15 with a rectangular form, whichis located with its longer sides in the housing 13 parallel to theZ-axis and has a molded-on projection 16 on one lower narrow side, which(projection) with its free end forms a bearing surface 17 located in aplane parallel to the X-Y plane, at which a vacuum channel 18 opens.

On one long side the body 15 is shaped so that it forms a spring-mountedtongue 19 there, with which the vacuum holder 14 is supported on asurface of the guide 20 formed in the housing 13 for the body 15 of thevacuum holder 14.

The vacuum holders 14 are arranged with their bodies 15 adjoined in theform of lamellas in the opening or guide of the housing 13, namely sothat the larger surface sides of the plate-shaped bodies 15 each arelocated in the X-Z plane. To move the pick-up head 12, it is fastened ona transport system 21, which comprises drives not further depicted, forexample stepping motors for executing the controlled movements Hx, Hy,Vz, V′z.

On the pick-up head 12 there is also a vacuum connection, only generallyindicated in the drawings as 22 and which is connected with a vacuumsource not depicted for supplying the vacuum channels 14.

The ram unit 11 consists essentially of a housing 23, which can move, bymeans of a motorized drive not depicted and controlled by the electroniccontrol unit 9, on a frame or base plate 24 of the work station 7 in thedirection of the Y-axis by a pre-defined stroke D (FIG. 3). The top ofthe housing 23 forms a bearing or support surface 25 for the bottom ofthe carrier foil 3, namely on a housing section 26, in which severalrams 27 that are tapered to a point at their top end and the axes ofwhich are parallel to the Z-axis, can move axially in the direction ofthe Z-axis, namely for one movement stroke corresponding to the doublearrow E of FIG. 2. The rams 27 are offset against each other in thedirection of the Y-axis. The number of the rams 27 is the same as thenumber of the vacuum holders 14, i.e. one ram 27 is allocated to eachvacuum holder 14. By spring means, which in the depicted embodiment areformed by leaf springs 29, each ram 27 is pre-tensioned in a lowerposition, in which the free end of the respective tip 28 is locatedbeneath the support surface 25. On the housing 23 or on a board 30located there, a shaft 31 can rotate on bearings on an axis parallel tothe Y-axis, rotationally driven by a stepping motor and likewisecontrolled by the electronic control circuit 9 (arrow F of FIG. 2). Onthe shaft there are several cam plates 33, which are axially offsetagainst each other and each of which forms a control cam 34. The axis ofthe shaft 31 is located in a Y-Z plane, in which also the axes of therams 27 are located. Furthermore, the shaft 31 is located beneath therams 27. A cam plate 33 is allocated to each ram 27, so that with eachfull revolution of the shaft 31, the respective ram 27 is moved by thecontrol cam 34 located on the cam plate 33 from its starting positionagainst the force of the spring element 29 upward into an upper strokeposition, in which the respective ram 27 protrudes with its tip 28through the carrier foil 4 clearly above the top of the carrier foil andabove the level formed by the top of the wafer 1.

In the depicted embodiment, six cam plates 33 are provided for,corresponding to the number of rams 27. The control cams 34 of theindividual cam plates 33 are offset at even angle distances on the axisof the shaft 31 so that when the shaft 31 is rotating, the rams 27 aremoved upward from their starting position in temporal succession.

On the housing section 26 there is a ring groove 35 in the proximity ofthe bearing surface 25 surrounding the array of the rams 27, which (ringgroove) is open on the bearing surface 25 and can be placed undercontrolled vacuum.

The special function of the work station 7 can be described as follows:

To remove a group 2′ of semiconductor chips 2, the carrier frame withthe carrier frame holder is first moved in the forward feed direction Bso that the row R1-Rn to be processed is located in the middle plane Mof the ram 27. This plane is indicated in FIG. 2 as the middle plane M.

Afterwards, the pick-up head 12 is moved so that the vacuum holders 14are located above the semiconductor chips 2 of the respective row R1-Rnto be picked up. The ram element 11 also is controlled by the electroniccontrol unit 9 so that one ram 27 is located beneath one chip 2respectively of the group 2′ to be picked up from the carrier foil 3.Afterwards, the pick-up head 12 is lowered vertically corresponding tothe stroke Vz, whereby first each bearing surface 17 of each vacuumholder 14 comes to bear against one semiconductor chip 2 or its top sidefacing away from the carrier foil 3. The vacuum holders 14 are locatedthereby in the lower position of their stroke or sliding movement Crelative to the housing 13. By means of the cam plates 33 located on therotating shaft 31, the rams 27 are then moved upward and lowered againin succession. In each upward movement of a ram 27, the ram penetratesthe carrier foil 3 with its tip 28, releases the correspondingsemiconductor chip 2 from the carrier foil 3 and moves thissemiconductor chip 2, which already bears against the bearing surface 17and is held there by means of vacuum (vacuum channel 18), upward,whereby also the vacuum holder 14 in the guide 20 is pressed upward bymeans of the corresponding ram 27. By means of the spring-mounted tongue19, the respective position of the vacuum holder 14 in the guide 20 ismaintained, so that then during the subsequent downward movement of therespective ram 27, i.e. when the corresponding control cam 34 againreleases the lower end of the ram 27, the corresponding semiconductorchip 2 is held on the bearing surface 17 of the vacuum holder 14 whichhas been pushed upward. In this way, all semiconductor chips 2 of thegroup 2′ to be removed are released in succession from the carrier foil3 and moved together with the corresponding vacuum holder 14 into aposition above the carrier foil 3. By means of the pick-up head 12, thesemiconductor chips 2 held on the vacuum holders 14 are then moved as agroup 2′ to the transport element 6 and then placed there after beinglowered (vertical stroke V′z), corresponding to the rows R′1-R′n to beformed, as described above. During the return stroke of the pick-up head12 for picking up a new group of semiconductor chips 2, i.e. before theinitiation of the next work stroke, the vacuum holders 14 are moved backto their starting position by means of a slide 36 indicated in FIGS. 2and 3 by a broken line. Due to the ring groove 35 that can be placedunder vacuum, the carrier foil 3 is fixed to the bearing surface 25during removal of the semiconductor chip 2, which significantly improvesthe removal of the semiconductor chip 2.

The fact that the raising of the rams 27 takes place in successionenables the efficient removal of each chip 2 from the self-adhesivecarrier foil 3, namely due to the fact that the carrier foil 3 isdeformed by the respective tip 28 before being penetrated, so that thecarrier foil 3 hereby is completely released from the bottom of therespective semiconductor chip 2 and adheres to the latter only at thepoint of contact between the tip 28 and the bottom of the semiconductorchip 2.

FIG. 5 shows in a depiction similar to FIG. 2 as a further possibleembodiment a work station 7 a, which differs from the work station 7essentially only in that in each work stroke, semiconductor chips 2 oftwo adjacent rows R1-Rn are picked up as a group 2′ from the carrierfoil 3. For this purpose, two rows of vacuum holders 14 are provided foron the pick-up head 12 a of the pick-up element 5 a, which correspondsin its function to the pick-up element 5, on both sides of the middleplane M, each of which can be movably guided in a housing 13 a′ and 13a″ in the direction of the Z-axis. Each ram 27 a corresponding to a ram27 forms two tips 28. The distance between the axes of the vacuumholders 14 and their bearing surfaces 17 in the direction of the X-axisis the same as the distance between the axes of the two tips 28 in thisX-axis and in the depicted embodiment is the same as the distancebetween the axes of two rows R1-Rn. The tips 28 are arranged in two rowsextending in the direction of the Y-axis, namely such that upon removingthe semiconductor chips 2 from the carrier foil 3, the axis of one tip28 is congruent with each vacuum holder 4. The function of the workstation 7 a corresponds to the function of the work station 7, only withthe difference that the semiconductor chips 2 of two adjacent rows R1-Rnare released in temporal succession from the carrier foil 3 and arelifted above the plane of the wafer 1 with the respective ram 27 a heldon the respective vacuum holder 2, i.e. the two adjacent semiconductorchips 2 of the two adjacent rows R1-Rn in the direction of the X-axis.

FIG. 6 shows as a further possible embodiment a work station 7 b, whichdiffers from the work station 7 only in that instead of the ram element11, a ram element 11 b is provided for. The latter likewise comprises aplurality of rams 27 b on the housing 23 b corresponding to the housing23, which (rams) each form a tip 28 and can be moved axially, i.e. inthe direction of the Z-axis, by the stroke E. The movement of the rams27 b is achieved by a control slide 37, which, mounted on bearings, canbe moved back and forth in the housing 23 b, in the direction of theY-axis (double arrow I of FIG. 7), controlled by the electronic controlunit 9. The slide 37 is provided with a control curve 38 of a groove 39,which extends over the majority of its length in the direction of theY-axis and forms a section 39′, in which the control curve 38 risesdiagonally in the direction of the Z-axis and then falls off again. Apusher 40 engages with each ram 27 b in the control groove 39. With eachfull movement stroke of the control slide 37 in the one direction or theother direction, all rams 27 b are moved in temporal succession one timefrom their starting position, in which the tips 28 are located below theplane of the carrier foil 3, into a raised position, in which the tips28 have penetrated the carrier foil 3 and are located above the plane ofthe wafer 1, and then moved back into their starting position. In thisembodiment, the control slide 37 with the control curve 38 replaces thecam plate 33 with the control cam 34. Otherwise, the function of thework station 7 b corresponds to the function of the work station 7.

FIG. 8 shows in a simplified perspective representation a work station 7c, which is designed similar to the work station 7 a, but in thedepicted embodiment is used to process electrical components 40, whichconsist of a semiconductor chip enclosed in a plastic housing and arearranged on the carrier foil 3 in the carrier frame 4 in the same manneras the semiconductor chips 2, namely in a rectangular array with severalrows and columns. By means of the work station 7 c or the pick-upelement 5 c located there, in one work stroke, two rows of components 40are picked up from the carrier foil 3 and placed in rows R′1, R′2 on atransport element 6, which is formed by a rotating transport belt. Forthis purpose, the pick-up head 12 c of the pick-up element 5 c comprisesone row of vacuum holders 14 on each of two housings 13 c′ and 13 c″,which (vacuum holders) adjoin each other in each housing in thedirection of the Y-axis. The two housings 13′ and 13″ can furthermore bemoved relative to each other in the direction of the X-axis, namely by apre-defined stroke, as indicated by the double arrow G. This not onlymakes it possible to pick up two rows of components 40 from the carrierfoil 3 and place them on the transport element 6 c in one work step, butalso enables a distance between the rows R′1 and R′2 on the transportelement 6 c that is greater than the distance between the rows ofcomponents 40 on the carrier foil 3.

By means of a flipping station 41, which comprises groups of two vacuumholders each offset by 90° on a housing 42 that is driven rotationallyin a pulsed cycle on the X-axis, the components 40 of the two rows R′1and R′2 are transferred in succession to vacuum holders 44 of atransporter 45. For this purpose, the vacuum holders 43 can becontrolled to move radially to the rotational axis of the housing 41(X-axis), namely for the removal of the components 40 on the transportelement 6c and for the transfer of two components respectively to thevacuum holders 44 of the transport element 45.

In FIG. 1, BL designates a reference line extending in the direction ofthe X-axis and thus perpendicular to the rows R1-Rn. The ends of therows have differing distances from this reference line.

The invention was described above based on exemplary embodiments. Itgoes without saying that numerous modifications and variations arepossible. It is possible, for example, to eliminate a vertical stroke Vzand/or V′z for the respective pick-up head 12, 12 a, 12 b for thepick-up elements 5, 5 a, 5 b and to achieve the corresponding verticalmovement for the advance of the vacuum holders 14 to the chips 2 on thecarrier foil 3 and for placing the chips 2 on the transport element 6solely by moving the vacuum holders 14 within the respective pick-uphead 12, 12 a or 12 b.

Furthermore, it is of course also possible to use the work stations 7, 7a and 7 b for processing components 40 or, conversely, to use the workstation 7 c for processing semiconductor chips 2.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

-   1 wafer-   2 semiconductor chip-   2′ group of semiconductor chips-   3 carrier foil-   4 carrier frame-   5, 5 a, 5 b, 5 c pick-up element-   6, 6 c transport element-   7, 7 a, 7 b, 7 c work station-   8 holder-   9 electronic control unit-   10 marking-   11, 11 a, 11 b ram elements-   12, 12 a, 12 b, 12 c pick-up head-   13, 13 a′, 13 a″, 13 c′, 13 c″ housing-   14 vacuum holder-   15 body-   16 projection-   17 bearing surface-   18 vacuum channel-   19 spring-mounted tongue-   20 guide-   21 transport or movement system-   22 vacuum connection-   23, 23 b housing-   24 frame-   25 bearing surface-   26 housing section-   27, 27 a, 27 b ram-   28 ram tip-   29 spring-   30 board-   31 shaft-   32 motor-   33 cam plate-   34 control cam-   35 ring groove-   36 reset slide-   37 control slide-   38 control curve-   39 control groove-   39′ control groove section-   40 component-   41 flipping station-   42 housing-   43 vacuum holder-   44 vacuum holder-   45 transport element-   X, Y, Z spatial axis-   A transport direction-   B forward feed-   C, D, E movement stroke-   F direction of rotation-   G movement stroke-   Hx, Hy horizontal stroke-   Vz, V′z vertical stroke-   I movement stroke-   K direction of rotation-   R1, Rn row-   R′1, R′n row-   M middle plane

1-51. (canceled)
 52. A device for processing electrical components,which are releasably held on a first carrier formed by a carrier foil inan array forming a plurality of first rows (R1-Rn), whereby at leastsome of the first rows (R1-Rn) contain at least two components andwhereby the components are each picked up by at least one pick-upelement from the carrier foil and placed on a second carrier and in eachwork stroke one group of the at least two components is picked up fromthe carrier foil with the at least one pick-up element and placed on thesecond carrier, wherein the at least one pick-up element comprises apick-up head with a plurality of vacuum holders, which can be movablyguided individually in a first axis direction perpendicular to the planeof the carrier foil, and that a plurality of needles or pins isprovided, which for releasing the electrical components from the carrierfoil can be moved axially and in temporal succession in the first axisdirection from a starting position distanced from the side of thecarrier foil facing away from the electrical components against thisside of the carrier foil, so that by means of the respective needle orpin a electrical component is released from the carrier foil and movedaway from the carrier foil together with the vacuum holder holding thiscomponent.
 53. A device for processing electrical components, which arereleasably held on a first carrier formed by a carrier foil in an arrayforming a plurality of first rows (R1-Rn), whereby at least some of thefirst rows (R1-Rn) contain at least two components and whereby thecomponents are each picked up by at least one pick-up element from thecarrier foil and placed on a second carrier, whereby the at least onepick-up element with which in each work stroke a group of at least twocomponents is simultaneously picked up from the carrier foil and placedon the second carrier.
 54. The device according to claim 52, wherein thevacuum holders are lamellar-shaped and adjoining vacuum holders.
 55. Thedevice according to claim 52, wherein the at least two components aresemiconductor chips and that the array of components on the carrier foilis a semiconductor wafer separated into the semiconductor chips.
 56. Thedevice according to claim 52, wherein the at least two components areelectrical components, preferably semiconductor components provided withan extruded housing.
 57. The device according to claim 52, wherein theat least two components are placed on the second carrier so that theyform at least one row on said carrier, in which (row) the componentsadjoin each other in a first axis direction (Y-axis).
 58. The deviceaccording to claim 52, wherein the first rows (R1-Rn) on the carrierfoil (3) are each oriented in a common first axis direction (Y) or in asecond axis direction (X-axis) extending perpendicular to the first axisdirection.
 59. The device according to claim 52, wherein the first rows(R1-Rn) on the carrier foil have different lengths.
 60. The deviceaccording to claim 52, wherein the first rows (R1-Rn) at least partiallydisplay varying distances from their beginning and/or end from areference line (BL) that is common to all first rows (R1-Rn) and extendsperpendicular to the longitudinal extension of these rows.
 61. Thedevice according to claim 52, wherein for the formation of the at leastone second row (R′1-R′n) on the second carrier, a pick-up head, forpicking up the respective group of components from the carrier foil andfor placing this group of components on the second carrier, iscontrolled by an electronic control unit so that it executes a differentmovement stroke (Hx, Hy), namely based on the position and/or number ofthe components respectively picked up from the carrier foil.
 62. Thedevice according to claim 61, wherein the pick-up head is controlled bythe electric control unit so that the components are picked up from thecarrier foil by rows, and corresponding to the first rows (R1-Rn). 63.The device according to claim 61, wherein the pick-up head is controlledby the electric control unit so that for each work stroke of the pick-upelement, only components from a first row (R1-Rn) are picked up from thecarrier foil.
 64. The device according to claim 61, wherein the pick-uphead is controlled by the electric control unit so that for each workstroke, components from two first rows (R1-Rn) are picked up from thecarrier foil and placed on the second carrier.
 65. The device accordingto claim 52, further comprising a drive for a forward feed (B) for thecarrier foil in an axis direction extending perpendicular to thelongitudinal extension of the first rows (R1-Rn), for example in thesecond axis direction (X-axis).
 66. The device according to claim 61,wherein for the formation of at least two second rows (R′1-R′n), thepick-up element is also movable at least in one axis direction (X-axis)crosswise to the longitudinal extension of the at least two second rows(R′1-R′n).
 67. The device according to claim 52, further comprising apick-up element, which comprises at least two fixtures in at least onerow for one component each.
 68. The device according to claim 52,further comprising a pick-up element, which comprises at least two rowswith at least two fixtures each for one component each.
 69. The deviceaccording to claim 68, wherein the at least two fixtures are formed bybearing surfaces of a multiple vacuum holder.
 70. The device accordingto claim 52, further comprising a pick-up element with at least onepick-up head made as a multiple vacuum holder.
 71. The device accordingto claim 69, wherein the pick-up element has a pick-up head whichcomprises a plurality of lamellar-shaped and adjoining vacuum holders,which preferably can be moved in a housing in one axis direction, in athird axis direction perpendicular to the plane of the carrier foiland/or to the plane of the second carrier.
 72. The device according toclaim 52, further comprising means for releasing the at least twocomponents from the carrier foil.
 73. The device according to claim 72,wherein the means for releasing are needles or rams, with which thecomponents are released by puncturing the carrier foil from the side ofthis carrier foil facing away from the components and secured on thepick-up element during the release.
 74. The device according to claim73, wherein the release of the components in each group of componentsfrom the carrier foil takes place in temporal succession.
 75. The deviceaccording to claim 52, wherein the second carrier is formed by thetransport surface of a transport element.
 76. The device according toclaim 52, further comprising a ram element, in which several rams orpins present in a housing or housing section are axially movable and canbe moved by a control unit from a non-effective starting position into aposition releasing the components from the carrier foil.
 77. The deviceaccording to claim 76, wherein the control means are formed by controlcams and/or by a control curve.
 78. The device according to claim 52,wherein the at least two components are picked up by means of a flippingstation in the second carrier and fed to a further processing unit, forexample to a further transport element or fixtures located there.